• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Archives for justice

A reason for boasting

Posted on May 2, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

A reason for boastingFor the most part, I really don’t enjoy listening to postgame, on-field interviews of athletes. If the interviewee is on the winning side, too often the interview amounts to boasting about how he is faster, stronger or smarter than his opponent. We live in a day where self-promotion is encouraged and expected. This is an aspect of our society with which I am not comfortable. Perhaps this is why these two verses in Jeremiah jumped out at me when I read them this morning:

“Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”” (Jeremiah 9:23–24, ESV)

For believers, if we are to boast at all, let it be boasting about the God we serve. Let us boast about that God makes himself understandable to us. Let us boast that God allows us to know him and be in relationship with him.

We have a reason for boasting, but that reason is not us. Let us boast about God’s character.

If we understand God’s character and boast about it, some of that character is bound to rub off on us. Please look at the list that is given in the verses above.

  • Steadfast love
  • Justice
  • Righteousness

If ware know God and are in relationship with him, it seems to me that these traits should be increasingly operational in our lives both individually and collectively. If we are seeking hard after God, it should be these traits that define the church.

Ask yourself these questions,

  • Are visitors to my church enveloped by a sense of God’s steadfast love (lovingkindness in the NASB)?
  • Is my congregations known for pursuing justice in the local community and around the world?
  • Do I convey an accurate portrayal of true righteousness, that which is granted by God through a relationship with Jesus Christ?

Not only is this a corporate challenge for us as we gather on Sundays, this is a challenge to us as individuals. We should be in prayer to God and give him permission to work these traits into the fabric of our lives. Paul tells us:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13, ESV)

Notice that there is effort required on our part. We need to extend effort toward becoming what God wants us to be. But ultimately it is God who works these traits into us. We need to allow Scripture to shape our desires and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is a good news, bad news situation.

The bad news is that we fall short in love, justice and righteousness. The good news is that God is not done with us.

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: boast, boasting, justice, Love, Righteousness

Waiting . . .

Posted on April 22, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Waiting for justiceRecently, a news story broke that implicated many world leaders in hiding billions of dollars of money in off-shore corporations. In my country, trust in the government is at an all time low because many (most?) of them make decisions that line their own pockets regardless of the consequences. Our leaders have betrayed our trust and we have become cynical.

This morning I found this gem in Isaiah 30:

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18, ESV)

Yahweh, the God of the Bible, is a God of justice and we are blessed if we wait for him.

It is easy to lose site of this and be overwhelmed by the state of the world around us. But the recurring theme of Scripture is that God will eventually set things right.

Waiting is hard. I don’t like to wait.

But God (thankfully) does not work according to my time table.

Part of waiting is learning to trust.

Do I trust God enough to believe that his timing is perfect? Sometimes I do.

Other times I let circumstances push me toward anxiety.

So it is good to be reminded that those who wait for God are blessed. The God of justice will eventually make things right.

May it be soon.

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: justice, wait, waiting

A longing for justice

Posted on April 9, 2016 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Justice
Copyright: dizanna / 123RF Stock Photo

A fast scroll through the news or your Facebook feed can be overwhelming. This morning I am bombarded by news of bickering presidential candidates, government overreach, religious terrorism, friends dealing with disease and destructive wildfires. These are typical of what my world is facing on a day-to-day basis.

As Christians, we have the opportunity to bring all of our concerns to God in prayer, but where do we begin? It seams as though the list of things to pray about is way larger than our ability to pray about them. Perhaps this is why Paul tells us to pray without ceasing. But even when I pray, there are times when I wonder if things will ever be right.

But then, seemingly when I need it most, there are times when I read Scripture I find a nugget of encouragement that helps me see past the difficulties around me. I found one such this morning while reading through Isaiah.

“He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” (Isaiah 42:4, ESV)

This verse is at the end of the first of the Servant Songs, which are parts of Isaiah’s prophecy where he writes about the Servant of Jehovah who Christians identify as Jesus of Nazareth.

This verse in Isaiah encourages me that at some point justice will be established. At some point, all the issues that I highlighted in my opening paragraph will be resolved. We will no longer experience terrorism, disease, or government corruption. We have a hope that rises higher than any flood of bad news that comes our way.

There will be an ultimate resolution, but we can also find hints of that resolution now.

We can actually see him working in the lives of some of those around us. Not only that, we see God working in ourselves. While we may feel that we take a step backward for every two steps forward, there is progress none-the-less.

I also like Isaiah’s reminder that Jesus will not grow faint or be discouraged about the mess we see around us. While we don’t understand why God allows any particular thing to happen, we can be assured that it is not because he has lost control or lost interest.

Because Jesus will not grow faint or be discouraged, we can find hope. That hope can then allow us to not grow faint or be discouraged. I am reminded of a verse from the old hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less”:

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: Isaiah, justice, longing, prayer, Scripture

Can we stop pointing fingers?

Posted on December 3, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

Finger Pointing
Image via http://www.imagebase.net/

If we read of the failures of the Nation of Israel in the Old Testament without identifying our own, similar failures, we miss an opportunity for growth. The temptation of superficial worship is universal. Israel struggled with it, churches struggle with it, and I struggle with it. Through Isaiah, God said this to the nation of Israel:

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies— I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:11–17, NASB)

The temptation is to feel that if we worship on Sunday (and maybe attend small group), give some money and do our (almost) daily devotions, we have done well. But the problem is that we can do all of this without having our hearts changed and without drawing close to the God we claim to worship. The forms have changed but the tendency toward having hard hearts has not.

Racial tensions have been running high in my country. I assume that the events that have been happening in Ferguson, Missouri are known throughout the world. Based on tidbits of information and our own predispositions, it is tempting to point the finger of blame on a person or group for these events.

But I wonder if things would be different if we, as the church, took seriously the commands at the end of the passage cited above. Have we turned a blind eye to injustice? Have we allowed the ruthless to prevail? Have we done all that we can for widows and orphans?

It has been said that in America, the most racially segregated time is Sunday morning worship. Too often the racial make-up of the local church does not reflect that of the surrounding community. Some of the separation is based on style preferences, but style preference is a lame excuse for the lack of fellowship between believers and congregations.

God said to Israel and is saying to us that it doesn’t matter a whit about the style or intensity of the external forms of worship. It doesn’t matter if we can point to the beautiful church buildings, exuberant worship or motivational preaching. God is not impressed and neither should we be.

God wants our hearts to reflect his heart. What would our world look like if they did? We would probably do less finger pointing and more work to bring healing and reconciliation.

Filed Under: Bible Reflection Tagged With: finger pointing, heart, justice, race, racial

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
August 2025
SMTWTFS
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31 
« Jul    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2025 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in